Illinois church singles group help troops keep cool in Iraq's heat

Published: 2005-08-01

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (CNS) -- Members of the singles group at St. Isidore Parish in Bloomingdale are providing some cooling comfort to American troops serving in Iraq's hot temperatures. They are making neck coolers for soldiers, according to the group's Patricia O'Dwyer. Polymers, watering crystals that are typically used to keep soil moist for potted plants, are sewn inside canvas scarves. When the soldiers dampen the scarves, the polymers retain the moisture and keep them cool on the battlefield. Some days this summer the temperature in Baghdad reached 115 degrees. In a telephone interview with the Catholic Explorer, newspaper of the Joliet Diocese, O'Dwyer said it takes about 30 minutes to make one scarf. Volunteers make them in an assembly line fashion with one volunteer cutting the material, another one sewing it and another inserting the crystals. Since they started the project in November 2004, the volunteers have made more than 50 of the coolers. In August they plan to make an additional 25 or so and send them to soldiers in care packages that will include cake in a jar.

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